Plate-registering device



W. H. BANZETT PLATE REGISTERING DEVICE Jan. 8 1924.

his Amme Jan. 8, 1924. 1 ,480,489

W. H. B ANZETT PLATE REGISTERING DEVICE Filed Oct. 28 1919 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3/ Q mlhhmflbanzefi;

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Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,480,489 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. BANZETT, 0F BERGENFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 AMERICAN LITHOGRAPHIO COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF YORK.

PLATE-REGISTERING DEVI-CE.

Application filed October 28, 1919. Serial No. 333,972.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. BANZETT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bergenfield, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Plate- Registering Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to plate registering devices and has for its object to provide a device of the class specified adapted for accurately registering a plate'in predetermined position throughout a series of machines,- each of which is adapted for performing some function in preparing said plate for use as a printing plate, and for subsequently similarly registering said plate in a proof press and thereafter in a power press, from which quantityproduction may be had. By means of my improvements a plate may be carried through from thefirststep in its preparation as a printing plateto its final use in a printing machine, in accurate synchronism with the several machines or devices operating thereupon and therefrom.

In the present state of the art ofproducing printing plates, particularly plates for multicolor printing, a number of plates-are required for each job, .and the designs on those plates must be in accurate register with each other.. Also, each of those plates goes through .a number of. mechanical op erations in a' variety of machines before it isready to be printed from. After that, the plate must be put in a proof press and proved for color and details. Then, if said plate is one of a series of color plates, contributing to amulticolor design, it. and its fellows must be printed from in sequence to produce a multicolor proof. Then these plates are used in a power or other press, if they are to be run one up, or if required in multiple, the design is duplicated and the required number setup on one plate for each color, from which the edition is run.

This obviously requires each plate to be set in register a large number of'times.

Heretofore it has been customary to depend upon register lines on the plates for bringing those plates into suitable positions,

respectively, in the various machines. This requires that each plate bewindividually tuned up for accuratepositioning in each. machine each time the, plate is inserted.

This is always an empirical operation and.

open to constant error. Even if successful it figures therein correspond as to applicability thereto, with the showing of several United States patents for inventions in machines for preparing plates for use as printing plates and for machines for printing from prepared plates, and include my copend ing application, Serial Number 312,813, filed July 23,1919, for improvements in plate registering mechanisms. Those pat ents and that application have been selected as illustrative of the broad adaptability of ,my improvements to the generalv art of machines for making and using printing plates..

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of .my improvements as applied tozthe showing of United States Patent 954,290, issued on' the invention of C..:Huebner,-April 5,

1910, and said figure, corresponds with Fig.

4 of that patent.v Fig. 2Qis a sectional end view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and-corresponds with Fig. 5 of said Huebner patent. ,-.F ig. '3 is another sectional end view online- 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing a modification of what is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4'=is a plan view of my improvements as applied to the showing of United States Patent 1,015,681, issued on the invention of said Huebner, January 23,

1912, and said figure corresponds with Fig.

17 of that patent. ..Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and corresponds with Fig. 6 of said Huebner patent. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of my improvements on line 66 of Fig. 7 as applied to the showing of. .United States Patent 1,109,289, issued on the invention of said Huebner, September 1,1914, and said figure corresponds with-Fig. 2 of that patent. Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation on line 7 7 of Fig. 6 and corresponds with Fig. '1 of said Huebner' patent. w my improvements applied to the-showing of United States Patent 1,201,048, issued on the invention of said Huebner, October 10, 1916,

Fig. 81isa plan-view of and said figure corresponds with Fig. 30f that patent. Fig. 9'is a sectional elevation on line 99 of Fig. 8 and corresponds with Fig. 11 of said Huebner patent. Fig. 10 is a plan view of my improvements applied to the showing oi": United States Patent 1,051,590, issued. on the invention or said Huebner, January 28, 1913, and corresponds with Fig. 3 of that patent. Fig. 11 is a sectional elevation on line 1111 of Fig. 10 andcorresponds with Fig. 20f said Huebner patent. Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation of myimprovements taken on line 1212 of Fig. 13,'and'corresponds with Fig. 3 of my copending application, Ser. No. 312,813. Fig. 13 is aplan View of what is shown in Fig. 12 and corresponds with Fig.2 of said copending application. Fig. 14 is'a sectional elevation similar to a portionoit' what is shown in Fig. 12'and illustrating a modificatioii thereof Referring'now particularly to Figs. 1. and 2,myfimprovements comprise, first; registering means fixed to the plate. illustrated in their preferred form as a rail 3 fixed to one edge as 4 of plate 1. Siaid rail may be integral with said plate as shown in the section of Fig. 2, or said platemay have its edge 4' wrapped about'the rail as'in Fig. 14, or said railmay comprise two members 3 and 3" as in Fig. 3, between which theedge 4 of plate 1 may be clamped by screws 8, as'inFigs. 12'and 13. Other modifications of fastening means between the plate edge and rail will be obviousto those skilled in the art but those shown" are suflicient to illustrate this phase of my improvements. The essential, feature is that said plate edge and rail bekept in their initial relation to one another throughout the manipulation'of the plate during its preparation and use.

My improvements comprise, second; means, in one or more machines for preparing'th e plate a printingpla-te, and

in one or more machines for'u'sing' that plate as a rin ting plate, for receiving and locating t at plate, by means of itjsjrail; in predetermined position. To these ends a seat or stop 10, Figs. 1 and 2,. is provided in a fixed portion otthe machine, as 13, orin a portion" of the machine 'which' maybe shifted to various predetermined positions by precision screws or the like, as in Figs. 4' and5 for instance.

This seat'or stop may comprise a groove, against the forward edge 10 of which said rail 3 engages along its inner lengthwise face 3, Fig. 14, and said rail may be held in place by a suitable clamp as 14. Forloeating said rail endwise, opposite stops 15, 16, against which the opposite ends of said rail engage, respectively, are provided. One of said stops, as 15, is fixedand the other as'16, Fig. 1, may be adjustable, for forcing said rail against stop 15, or said second stop may be fixed also, as 16*, Fig. 13.

In some cases it may be advantageous to provide that edge 17 of plate 1', opposite edge 4, witha rail'30, similar to rail'3,:as in Figs. 4, 5 and (Land to seat said rail similarly to the'seating or rail 3. In the showing of Figs. 4 and 5, the holding means for edge 17 of the plate is movably mounted so as to tension the plate by means of screws 18. In the showing of amt seats for rails 3 and 30 are both fixed, and after rail 3 is clamped into place the plate'is tensioned by pressing rail 30 down into its seat bymeans of clamp14".

In the showing of Figs. 8, 9, l0 and 11, the'rail is omitted from edge 17 of plate 1 and that edge is gripped between pivoted jaw 19 andclamp 20, and said jaw maybe rocked on its pivot to tension saidplate by means of screws 21; i

From the foregoing description the 'adaptability of my improvements to a broad variety of local environment in machines for preparing and machines for using a printing plate will be apparent, and the means for accurately locating said plate in predetermined position in any one of said'machines, and therefore the synchronizing ofsaid plate in any selected series of said machines, will be clearly understoodf I claim:

1. In a plate registering device the'combination ofa plate, arailfixed'to oneedge thereof, a seat for said rail, means'for locating said rail in predetermined position lengthwise in said seat. meansfor locating said rail in predetermined position transversely in said seat, and means for holding the rail so located, in said seat.

2. Ina plate registering device thecombination of aplate, a'railcompiising upper and lower] members respectively between which said plate'is clamped in fix'ed'posi tion','a seat' for the lower member otfsaid rail, means for locating said lower member in" predetermined position lengthwise" in said seat, means for locating" said lower member in predetermined position transversely in said seat, and means for holding said lower member solocated, in saidseat 3. In a plate registering device the combination'oit' a plate, a-rail fixed to one edge thereof, a seat for said rail, fixed meansfor locating said rail lengthwise insaid seat and fixed means for locating said rail transversely in said seat;

4. In a 3 lateregisteringdeviceithe combination of a plate, a rail fixed to one edge thereof, a seat forsaid rail, fixed means for locating said rail lengthwise in'said seat, fixed means for locating said rail transversely in said seat and" means for holding the rail so located, in said seat 5. The combination with a press cylinder, of opposite holding members thereon, means for securing the opposite edges of a flexible sheet to said holding members, said sheet having at one end thereof a fixed rigid part, and one of said holding members having a rigid part arranged to detachably engage the rigid part on the sheet to locate said sheet accurately in a predetermined position lengthwise of the sheet on the cylinder, means for relatively moving said holding members to draw the sheet taut around the cylinder, and means for moving said rigid part on the sheet lengthwise of the cylinder to a definite point to locate the sheet accurately in a predetermined position.

6. The combination with a press cylinder, of opposite holding members thereon, means for securing the opposite edges of a flexible sheet to said holding members, said sheet having at one end thereof a fixed rigid part adapted to detachably engage one of said holding members, and said holding member having a rigid part with which said rigid k part on the sheet abuts to locate said sheet accurately in a predetermined position on the cylinder, means for forcing said abutting parts into contact, and means for relatively spreading said holding members to draw the sheet taut around the cylinder.

7 The combination with a press cylinder, of a holding member thereon for one edge of a flexible sheet, a relatively stiff reinforcement on said sheet adjacent said edge thereof, means for releasably connecting said reinforcement with said holding member, a stop on said holding member against which a part of said reinforcement is adapted to abut in a direction crosswise of the sheet to accurately determine the position of the sheet on the cylinder, and means for drawing the sheet taut around the cylinder.

8. The combination with a press cylinder, of a holding member thereon for one edge of a flexible sheet, a relatively stiff reinforcement on said sheet adjacent said edge thereof, means for releasably connecting said reinforcement with said holding member, a stop on said holding member against which a part of said reinforcement is adapted to abut in a direction crosswise of the sheet to accurately determine the position of the sheet on the cylinder, means arranged to engage said reinforcement and move it endwise against said stop, and means for drawing the sheet taut around the cylinder.

9. The combination with a press cylinder, of a holding member thereon for one edge of a flexible sheet, a relatively stifl' reinforcement on. said sheet formingv a projecting shoulder parallel with said edge of the sheet, means for holding said shoulder against a holding edge on said holding member, a stop on said holding member against which a part of said reinforcement is adapted to abut in a direction" crosswise of the sheet to accurately determine the position of the sheet on the cylinder, means for holding said reinforcement against said stop, and means for drawing the sheet taut around the cylinder.

In witness whereof, I hereby afiix'my signature this 25th da ofOctober, 1919.

WILLTAM H. BANZETT. 

